EDIT AGAIN: Just realized I found a continuity issue. In chapter 10 when Eliot visits Light

lightwolf21 Wrote:

He shook his head as he thought of Tegan and how much hardship they’d had to endure to become mates.

yet in Val's fic they aren't actually mates until after the kidnapping, which hasn't even happened yet in your continuity.

*facepawlms* I thought someone already brought this up and I'd fixed it...must have been an additional mention of this that I missed. My continuity was based on the older edition of Val's fic...I must have missed that retcon. Thanks. :3

Edit (revisions in bold):

“Who is this?” Elliot asked, finally coming to his senses from the initial shock of Emily’s sudden appearance. It was quite an appearance, in his mind, too. She's quite lovely...I wonder if she's taken.

...

In his own imagination, the Golden Retriever slumped his shoulders and gave a sigh. Alas it was not meant to be. Elliot nudged Light in the side. “You lucky dog you,” he replied. “…I thought you said she was a Czech Wolf, though.” He scratched his head and looked at Emily.

no problem. you did fix a different thing based on the old version, I saw you mention it. I figured you probably just missed one. ^_^continuity errors are easier to make when it's someone else's continuity that's changing, like Val having to keep some of the differences in continuity between his fic and the actual comic. I once wrote a chapter where I decided to change a character's name but left a bunch of uses of the old name. that was worse

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A white pickup truck with a wildlife refuge logo on the side pulled up to the Canadian border and a mustached man rolled down the window looking to the border crossing guard. A Dachshund sat beside him reading a book. The graying man smiled as he handed over his documents certifying his bringing of a couple of ferals into the country. “Just relocating some captured animals,” he said casually as the border crossing guard took the papers. The guard looked at the documents and back at the man before circling the truck to check its contents. Upon lowering the rear gate he saw two larger animal carrier cages secured to the bed of the truck. A white wolf and a cougar were in the back smiling with toothy grins…one would expect a halo to appear above such well-behaved ferals as they gave a friendly wave to which the border patrolman waved back with a nervous grin. He put the tailgate back up and walked back alongside the truck toward the guard post and waved for them to open it. Frankie gave a casual salute with a smile as he rested his elbow outside the door as he drove on into Canada on his way northward.

The wolf and cheetah breathed a sigh of relief once they were out of view of the border crossing. They looked at each other through the small holes along the side. “Well it worked. What do you have to say now, Miss Skeptical?” Light asked Cameron, speaking loudly over the sound of the wind as the truck drove on. He was just thankful the border crossing guards hadn’t questioned the large metal collar around his neck. He’d gotten used to wearing it over the last couple days but it was still a little uncomfortable.

The ‘cougar’ brushed a paw down over her face, the brownish grey fur turning into her usual ash colored coat color as she giggled from the excitement of nearly getting caught. “Okay. I’ll admit it, Light…your abilities for disguise are exceptional.” She blushed a little as she looked down and to the side. “Sorry I doubted you.” She was used to being reprimanded by Fang all the time. She wasn’t sure if he hated her or not but with this wolf it was pretty clear he was sincere with his treatment toward her as a useful member to the team…not just a tool. Even if the wolf acted like a jerk sometimes…she felt he never really disrespected her.

Light gave a reassuring nod. “Well it was your plan to begin with…let’s just hope we can get to Northern Alaska shortly. It should be easier once we get to Frankie’s friend’s place.” The wolf was hoping it would be smooth sailing the rest of the way. He didn’t notice the dark-furred wolf strapped beneath a truck a few cars behind them.

“I’ll have you soon,” Temno said with a smirk. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise as the truck he was strapped under took an offramp and started heading east. “Crap,” he replied as he was forced to wait…the trail suddenly getting cold. He knew where to find them though. There was only one reason for them to travel this far north and west. They know, he replied with a gulp as his superiors must have also known if he figured it out. The only reason he was still alive was they were giving him a chance to redeem himself and finish off the wolf and his comrades before they reached the destination. He knew they wouldn’t survive an encounter against the organization’s main stronghold on their own but if they had to do it themselves…they wouldn’t have a need for him.

Temno had unstrapped himself from the truck he was riding as it slowed down at a stop light and rolled into the foliage beside the road. Making sure he hadn’t been seen he waited until the coast was clear before moving onto the other side of the road and waited until another truck with decent clearance showed up and he quickly and stealthily attached the Neodymium magnets coated in a thin rubber film to mask the sound and impact of them against the underside of the vehicle and attaching the webbing to lay on it underneath. It was a standard item of his field package…one that was proving quite useful. “Alright, Light…you’re a worthy opponent. I’ll give you that,” he whispered with a grin as he hopped up into the webbing as the truck started pulling away.

-------

It was a good four hours before the truck the four comrades were using for transport stopped again for refueling. Frankie put the gasoline nozzle into the filling inlet before opening the cages for Light and Cameron. Frank walked into the store to buy some snacks. “Alright you two…let’s get a stretch in real quick before we head out again.”

Light put his paw around the opening of the cage as he was stepping out. Cameron also did the same thing but with her opposite paw, the proximity of the cages allowed for her paw to overlap Light’s before she realized what was happening and they looked at each other while climbing out of the cages. She blushed from the awkward contact and cleared her throat before putting a paw through her hair, brushing it back.

Light didn’t blush but raised an eyebrow as he noticed her blushing. “You okay, Cameron?” he asked, not realizing she was slowly developing feelings for him. When it came to this sort of thing he was pretty clueless sometimes. He could understand if a female canine had the hots for him…but he didn’t think a feline could.

“Huh?” Cameron asked as if she was just regaining focus. “…oh yes, Light.” She replied with an overly eager nod that caused the wolf’s expression to change to one of slight confusion.

The wolf quickly chalked it up to her having been in the employ of Fang that might have caused her to have a few screws loose. “Alright,” he replied as he hopped out of the truck bed and started to stretch. He didn’t realize Cameron watching him before he turned to face her and she quickly looked away, feigning looking at some trees as she started humming.

Frank soon returned with a bag of gas station convenience store food…not the healthiest stuff but he managed to find some decent organic beef jerky. The rest of them soon were on the road again.

-------

It wasn’t long before the truck made it to an airport, the cages with Light and Cameron were loaded onto a military transport. Frankie had used his connections with the military to pull some strings and use the help of a friend to allow them to airdrop the crates as part of a military paradrop exercise. Frankie climbed onto the plane with them and explained the situation to Light and Cameron. “Frank and I are taking another transport to the rendezvous point, Light.”

The white-furred wolf nodded in understanding and looked at Cameron. She wasn’t liking this plan at all. She’d never been airdropped before…and the plane to get them to Washington from Mexico was the first one she’d been on. She took it surprisingly well from her appearance but Light could still smell the fear on her…she was definitely showing her fear now, shivering but not only from anxiety. Light must have realized her thinner fur was not optimal for the cooler climate of Southern Canada. “Um…Frankie, do you have a jacket for Cameron,” he whispered to him through the cage after waving him over.

The human took off the over-sized jacket he was wearing and opened the cage, sneaking it inside of it before Cameron had a chance to jump out. She looked like she was thinking about it because she was so nervous. “Put it on,” Light instructed to her and she did quickly. The cheetah disguised as a Mountain Lion was thankful to feel a bit warmer even though it was ridiculously oversized on her.

The plane started to taxi to the runway as Frankie left, the door shutting behind him. Light saluted him casually as they were left with a platoon of marines left wondering why they were air dropping ferals for a wildlife refuge for their exercise.

“Alright, Ladies!” a gruff looking man called out to them as they took their positions in their seats. “We have the honor of transporting some cargo for a wildlife refuge in North Western Alaska today,” he continued as he paced up and down the back of the transport airplane to the HALO trainees. “Williams?” he called out and an average-looking marine saluted to him as he shouted back. “Sir!”

“Make sure these two are fitted securely with crate drop chutes,” the one in charge said as he pointed to the two cages.

“Yes, Sir,” Williams replied as he waited until the plane was at altitude and travelling North West before he secured the parachutes to the crates.

Light looked over at Cameron. She was looking very nervous. “Calm down, Cam. Everything will be fine.” Light whispered as he looked through the opening at her.

She nodded and gulped nervously as she looked back at Light.

Williams cursed quietly and Light picked up on it with his ears over the sound of the plane’s powerful engines. He walked over to the Sergeant and whispered in his ear. The sergeant walked over to the animal cage carriers with Williams and looked at the two of them and the parachutes attached…one of them being damaged. “Do we have any more parachutes?” he asked Williams. The soldier regretfully shook his head. The sergeant looked back at Light. “Alright Wolf…we’re going to put you both in the same cage…think you can behave yourself? We have a tranq rifle if you’re feeling uncooperative.”

Light shook his head in his larger cage. “No Sir…I suggest you transfer her over here gently though…she seems a bit skittish.”

The sergeant nodded in agreement, Cameron’s behavior hadn’t gone unnoticed from her occasional nervous mews. Light moved to the back of the carrier as the one Cameron was in was opened, the men standing back. A mountain lion wasn’t usually the friendliest of animals and a couple of the soldiers were ready with tranq rifles.

“Alright, Miss…” Light said with a nervous smile as he looked over to Cameron with a look of worry, hoping she’d get the idea that if the men knew a wolf and mountain lion knew each other it might be suspicious. Cameron didn’t say anything but nervously moved out of her carrier and into Light’s closing the door behind her as it closed with a click. Williams went back to securing the parachute on the cage with both Light and Cameron in it. The tighter space was only slightly uncomfortable but Cameron didn’t seem to mind as she was blushing while the two were so close.

Light chuckled nervously as he braced himself against the side of the cage, his leg brushing up against hers causing Cameron to stifle a yelp in surprise.

The two ‘ferals’ waited patiently as the plane continued onward over the course of several hours. Light had fallen asleep, using the soft hum of the engines outside the window to lull him to sleep. The cheetah was too anxious to sleep but she felt calmer being with Light and soon she was also asleep and leaning against the wolf, her head on his shoulder as her breathing was relaxed in her slumber. The wolf was pretty warm and she needed the extra warmth despite the temperature being controlled in the waiting area.

A loud buzzer went off and the light above the door started to rotate it’s bright red glow across the cabin. The Sergeant in charge shouted to the trainees. “Alright Boys, show time!”

The paradrop training exercise was going according to plan. The loading door at the rear of the aircraft lowered and the sub-zero temperatures filled the room. The men were wearing oxygen masks due to the higher altitude. Light and Cameron had been given some as well after Light suggested they provide the ‘ferals’ with some after he heard what altitude they were at. What the soldiers didn’t know was this wasn’t his first HALO jump.

Cameron mewed in anxiety as she heard the large heavy door opening and she could see the sky out the back. The cage was too low to the ground for them to see the horizon though.

Light was thankful for that. He couldn’t take her clinging to him much harder. She was surprisingly strong for her build. He hugged her back against him and was surprised to hear her breathing become more steady and feel her relaxing a bit.

“A few of you will be deploying supply crates with your drop. Please be advised the chutes on these will deploy automatically at the set elevation but they cannot change direction in drop like the rest of you can so watch your heads. Williams, you’re in charge of making sure this chute deploys…last thing I need is an inquisition as to why these two didn’t arrive safely to the preserve.”

Williams saluted with a sincere face as a second buzzer sounded and the men started to jump out of the aircraft one after the other, a group of them pushing the crates to the back of the aircraft.

Light was sure he’d never been held more tightly by anyone in his life as the cheetah was clinging to him and breathing heavily. He stroked a paw down her head and back which seemed to calm her so he repeated the motion as the crate was slid off the tail door of the aircraft.

“Aaaaaiiiieeee!” Cameron’s screech was muffled by the oxygen mask and she squeezed the white-furred against her as the feeling of weightlessness overtook the residents of the pet carrier. The cheetah looked out through the front through the grid bars of the cage and saw the horizon line fly up and out of sight as they looked down at the ground below. It was far too high to make out any detail at all. Only the landscape and some clouds hovering in front of it. The front opening caught the air rushing into it and wobbled before it started to spin.

Light held Cameron close to him with his legs around torso and covered her head with one paw while holding them steady with another paw against the roof of the carrier. He felt her shaking with fear and breathing heavily. He was worried she was going to hyperventilate or take in too much oxygen.

“Cameron!” he shouted over the sound of the wind rushing around the carrier. “Cameron! You need to calm down! Focus!” He put a paw on the back of her head and turned her head to face his. Their eyes were watering up from the cold dry wind rushing through the carrier. He looked at her with an expression with eyes that looked bright green and calming to her.

The cheetah stopped her sobbing and sniffled a little as her breathing slowed and became regular. She felt like she was going to die but at the same time she felt at peace as if she was happy she was with this wolf right now...when she needed pretty much anyone. She was in a panicked state.

Light was just trying to maintain eye contact so that she would focus on him and not the fact that they were plummeting toward earth and it seemed to be working. Light glanced over Cameron’s shoulder briefly and saw one of the crates deploying its chute. The fact that theirs hadn’t deployed yet alarmed the wolf until he saw Williams barreling toward them head first to pick up speed before he collided with the carrier, putting it into a spin.

Williams gritted his teeth and pulled hard on the release cord.

The last thing Light saw was his and Cameron’s reflection in the paratrooper’s goggles before he grunted while forcing the manual chute deployment. Then suddenly the rotation stopped and Light felt the carrier lurch and his head hit the ceiling while holding Cameron’s head against his chest protectively by instinct. Everything went dark.

----------

Temno had lost them but he’d stayed the night at a hotel to use the wi-fi and rest. He’d been pursuing his quarry, backtracked to Mexico, transferred vehicle to vehicle to track them over the highways of the United States and all to kill this wolf that seemed to give him so much trouble. He chuckled as he used the Fenice Nera’s network to hack into the military’s email and searched for animal transport. He came upon the request to transport a wolf into a wildlife reserve in Northern Alaska. It was the only request for a wolf so he grinned. He knew it was Light somehow. He could feel it. “Once again you cover your tracks like a failure, Light,” he said to himself before laughing. Some people nearby were staring at him. He growled and put away his computer before heading back up to his room for the night.

Hmm... so Light is once again unconscious... this i very Bondish. He even has a girl Friday!

Maybe the guard thought it was a tracking collar for research?

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Wed May 02, 2012 10:44 pm

kavviyenta

Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:01 pmPosts: 268Location: close to DC

Re: Houspets: PoP - Light in the Darkness (PG-13)

I noticed that in other media, Light and Cameron were an item. In this story, they just met so I wonder how their relationship develop? Granted it would be too predictable since Light still has feeling for Emily; poor Mike.

With the current fate of the Fanged Teeth Gang, who know when Light might learn the hard way that he no longer need to be careful of being tracked?

----------Chapter 9Unknown time (dusk, in the far north during early March)Location: North Western Alaska

Cameron had blacked out from the blood rushing from her head to the g-forces from the spinning before the crate was stabilized by the chute…the suddenness also caused her to bump her head. She stirred and shook her head, trying to regain her bearings before trying the cage door. It was jammed up against a rock on the other side and they were blanketed with a dark green fabric. The parachute. She looked beside her and saw Light his normally pure white fur a dark crimson. She turned his head and saw he must have hit it hard on something. She’d never seen that much blood before, although comparably a small amount compared to the stuff Light had seen. She tried shaking Light, gently at first but harder when thoughts of her wolf-…er escort...dying on her started to surface in her mind.

“Light! Wake up!” she called while shaking him, causing him to slump over and hit his head, causing him to flinch and yelp as he started regaining consciousness.

The cheetah breathed a sigh of relief when Light started to come to. She took off her jacket and used her razor sharp claws to cut a strip off along the bottom and started to bandage the wound, worried it might still be bleeding. At least being a member of the Fanged Teeth gang, they trained us with basic field knowledge she thought to herself as Light opened his eyes and looked up at her not saying anything. He always seemed to be in need of help and he chuckled in amusement.

“Thanks, Cameron,” he replied as he blushed, slightly ashamed he wasn’t able to take care of himself at the moment. He tested his bones for damage as he slowly moved each appendage and toe and finger along all of his joints one by one. “Why are we still in the carrier?” he asked after he was done.

The cheetah shook her head, the puma makeup still making her appear like a mountain lion although some had rubbed off, revealing her darker fur in some places. “I’m not sure…” she curled her tail around herself in worry. “Do you think we were separated from the others?” she asked as she pet the tip of her tail as she gripped it, trying to find comfort in the uncertainty of the situation.

Light sat up as much as he was able to in the cramped carrier and looked at the cheetah with a quick tilt of his head to the side, indicating for her to move. She pressed herself up against the side of the cage and Light’s footpaw struck at the hinged side of the carrier, breaking the cage door off. The light metal door flew several feet away after coming off and the wolf put a paw on the edge of the cage, stepping out and looking around. “Nah…they weren’t supposed to follow us out here; just drop us off at the wildlife refuge…and that’s where we are,” the wolf replied as he pointed to a sign on a chain link fence 50 yards away. He walked over to it, Cameron following after she had drawn the coat around her, shivering in the cold breeze. As the two got closer they could see the sign on the fence did say as Light expected. They were in the refuge. He looked around to get his bearings. He’d had some time to study the map of the area they were going to be dropping into. “The rendevouz point is…” he said quietly to himself as he continued looking around. “…huh.” he said as he turned to a worried looking Cheetah that raised her eyebrow skeptically.

“Yes?” she asked with a nervous grin.

The wolf turned to face her with a grin and a paw rubbing the back of his head. “I have no idea where this is.”

If Cameron was feeling up to it, she would have faceplanted in frustration. “What?!” she growled and stomped up to the wolf, kicking him in the shin. “If you get us killed out here…I’ll…I’ll kill you!”Light yelped at the kick and hopped on one footpaw for a few seconds before putting both of his footpaws down and putting his paws on the cheetah’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’m skilled in survival, Cam…I won’t let anything happen to us.”

The feline puffed up her cheeks in annoyance at her willingness to be comforted so easily by the wolf. “Fine…just…get us out of here so we can finish your suicide mission,” she replied with a sneer as she brushed off Light’s paws from her shoulders.

Light shrugged off Cameron’s attitude as he started off away from the fence. He knew the general direction they should be heading to the rendezvous point. Northwest…what Light didn’t know was how far off course the two of them were; a journey that would easily take them a several days if they walked on foot without stopping. They had hit a strong air current coming over the mountain ranges that pushed them far off course and on the opposite side of said mountains. They wouldn’t get that far though as the sun dipped down over the horizon, the lights of the aurora borealis blanketed the sky. Cameron would have just stood in awe…freezing to death if Light hadn’t kept reminding her to move. Soon Cameron was shivering too much and was riding on Light’s back. The jacket that Frankie had given to her covered the two of them and kept the feline warm enough for now. The temperature was dropping rapidly. The area didn’t get too much sun this far north during early spring.

The winds were picking up and the high altitude they were at were taking their tolls on Light. He hadn’t done such strenuous exercise in a very long while. He was panting and grunting as he trudged through the heavy snow that had started to accumulate on them. Hot breath steamed from his mouth as his tongue dripped, the saliva freezing shortly after hitting the snow. “Hrng…C’mon, Light…keep going…need to find shelter.” The wolf had tried several times to try to dig a shelter for the two of them in the snow but it was too tightly packed and there weren’t enough fallen branches along their route to make much of anything. The only chance they’d have for shelter would be the mountains they’d been traveling toward.

Another hour later and Light stopped. Cameron was asleep and warm…but not as warm as earlier. The wolf fell to his knees and collapsed forward face down in the snow. His passenger was shivering atop him. The cheetah mewed and poked Light in the back, the wind rushing past her whiskers as she poked again, this time with her claw. “Light!” she called out over the wind. A few seconds later her ears twitched toward the sound of a wolf howling. She gulped and looked around. “Oh great…” she said with a worried frown. She picked up the scent of wolves nearby and pressed herself into Light’s back, trying not to shiver from the cold and fear…hoping they’ll think she’s unconscious like the wolf below her seemed to be. Play dead…maybe they’ll go away.

The wolves approached and cautiously approached the two, sniffing closely. A gray colored wolf with yellow eyes approached Cameron from behind and she tried to keep her breathing steady. She flinched when the nose pressed against her back though. The fur on her back and tail stood on end and she hissed as she hopped off of Light and turned to face them. There were six wolves of varying colors…but she could tell from a glance she wouldn’t stand a chance against one, let alone six of them.

“Whoa!” one wolf jumped back as he reacted to the cat springing up, noticing she wore a jacket that was almost too large for her. “Easy girl,” he said as the others approached from the other direction, cutting off her escape routes. The wolf that seemed to be in charge of the group, the largest one with reddish brown fur, walked up to her. Cameron moved back as the wolf walked past her and put a paw in front of Light’s muzzle, checking for breath. He nodded to the other four.

Two of the wolves in grayish-brown fur came over and picked up the unconscious wolf, wrapping him in a blanket and keeping him close to them as they started walking somewhere. “W-Wait!” Cameron called out to them as she tried to move toward them. She didn’t want to lose sight of Light right now. He was the only wolf she felt she could trust. She was badly outnumbered and cold and scared and didn’t know what the heck was going to happen to the two of them. She growled in frustration and hissed at the one closest to her as the fur stood up on the back of her neck.

“Whoa…calm down, everything’s going to be okay. We’re friendlies. We’re just trying to help. Come with us. We have shelter nearby,” the one that had sniffed closely to the cheetah earlier said as he stretched a paw out toward her.

She shivered a bit from the cold and looked at him. She put her paw out hesitantly to grasp his paw. It was either go with them and risk death or imprisonment or stay out here and surely die from starvation or exposure. She hugged herself and rubbed her paws up and down her arms to try to warm them up. “Not like you’re leaving me any choice…kidnapping my guide,” she said with a bit of venom behind her words. She started walking after the two wolves carrying light, muscles tensed and wary.

The wolf grinned and nodded to the others that stood in a diamond formation around her.

Now what? Cameron asked herself as she dreaded what she’d gotten herself into.

Unknown time (Early Morning, in the far north west of Alaska during early March)Location: Howling Moon Wolf Pack’s Settlement

Cameron walked along between the wolves. She was dragging her footpaws as if the trek had been exhausting. Her escorts were respecting her privacy enough for the moment. She didn’t think they meant her and Light harm. …otherwise they would have killed us out there in the middle of nowhere, she thought to herself, still hopeful that they wouldn’t do such a thing. Drawing on her experience from a tactical officer, she could tell they were a scout team based on their gear and numbers. Even without the more advanced equipment of a human civilization, these wolves seemed to have everything they needed. She was glad she had accepted a blanket offered to her by one of the wolves earlier on.

Eventually, Cameron caught site of campfires in the distance. The light was barely making it through the thick snowfall of the blizzard. The cheetah was shivering despite the wolves walking around her close enough to provide some body heat. She stopped when the group signaled to a wolf that was guarding the perimeter of the encampment. Are all ferals this organized? Cameron asked herself as they continued onto what appeared to be the main camp. It was an open area littered with camp fires with several den openings surrounding it. The two wolves carrying Light brought him into one of dens. The cheetah hesitantly entered it, only being urged with the wolves continuing to walk behind her.

As Cameron looked around more, the inside of the den was larger than it appeared to be on the outside. She was surprised to see a stone fireplace inside. An opening above the fireplace must have been allowing the smoke to rise up to the outside. The light produced by the warm heat created an eerie light about the room. Her eyes were next drawn to a white and black furred wolf sitting upon a chair made of branches lashed together. His base fur coat color was of the darkest black despite the aged appearance on his face, the underside of his body was a pale gray almost white. Beside him was a white wolf.

He has the look of a pack alpha Cameron thought to herself with a nervous swallow in her throat. The wolf was looking at the group of wolves intently as they laid Light down beside the fire on a blanket of moss. The heat of the fire was more than enough to make the room a much more comfortable temperature than the blizzard outside, prompting the cheetah to hand the blanket to a nearby wolf and nodding her thanks. She turned her attention back to the wolf in the chair.

The white wolf that had been sitting beside the alpha’s throne rushed over to the unconscious Light and began looking over his fingers and toes, placing her ear to his chest and nose. The wolfess appeared to know what she was doing, which put Cameron at ease a bit. She just wished the wolf that was checking over Light wasn’t so drop-dead gorgeous. Under closer inspection of the fireplace light, Cameron had never seen a finer example of a female wolf. She stifled a hiss at seeing Light being attended by her. She wasn’t sure what was coming over her. Am I that jealous?

The alpha wolf in the throne-like chair appeared to be elder from the gray fur that seemed to appear throughout his deep black fur and especially prominent around the face. It was clear he was still strong enough to lead, as him being in the alpha position proved, otherwise he would have been replaced by a challenger as alpha; a common tradition among wolf packs. He appeared to have the knowledge and experience of many moons behind him.

Cameron gulped and her knees shook slightly in nervousness.

“Miss?” the black and white furred wolf asked in a calm yet loud and clear voice. He stared straight at her with golden eyes. She gasped and looked to him, not expecting him to address her directly.

“Y-Yes?” she replied in a voice that sounded surprisingly relaxed to her, considering how nervous she felt.

“Are you okay? You look nervous,” the wolf replied as he raised an eyebrow. He appeared very interested in this surprise guest.

“I-I’m fine…there are just…a lot of wolves around and I don’t know why you’ve brought me here. You haven’t hurt me…yet,” she said with the last word being barely discernible as it was mumbled under her breath. “…and the wolves that walked with me were respectable but I-” she stopped as the wolf held up a paw.

“Forgive my manners,” the alpha replied. “We have not been properly introduced, my guest. I am Walter Cuddlepoof,” he announced loudly as he stood from his chair.

Cameron’s expression turned to one of shock. She was too afraid to laugh and she couldn’t possibly take the wolf seriously with a name like that…even despite his intimidating appearance. She held her breath as the wolves around the room rolled their eyes, shaking their heads slowly and lowering them a bit.

The white wolf looked over at Cameron with a warm smile and eyes of the deepest blue the cheetah had ever seen. Almost hypnotic. Then the wolf stood from her place beside Light and growled at ‘Walter.’ “That isn’t funny, Dear!” she said with a beautiful yet harsh voice, emphasizing a sarcastic tone on the last word. She waved a finger, scolding as she stomped over to the black and white wolf. He lowered his ears and his tail stopped wagging as he leaned back to avoid getting poked in the nose by her finger.

“B-But, Tlun (t[soft t]loon) it was j-” he started before being interrupted suddenly by the white wolf growling.

“No buts, Alignak, (Ah-lig-nahk)” she replied as she turned and looked at Cameron. “You’ll have to forgive my mate…he’s an idiot,” she said to the feline with a nervous grin.

“Ow…That hurt, Tlun,” the wolf replied as he held a paw over his heart and feigned being broken hearted before chuckling. “Alright…you caught me. That wasn’t my real name…but it was pretty funny pretending it was, wasn’t it?” he said to Cameron with a wink.

Cameron blinked in surprise. She didn’t think wolf society could be so matriarch based. She’d never seen a wolf put in his place by his mate before. Not only that but it seems like they had a very strained sense of humor…at least this pack leader did. “A-lig-nack?” she asked him to confirm its pronunciation.

“Ah-lig-nahk…or Chief if you prefer,” the alpha replied while the white wolf went back to tending to Light.

“Alignak, I’m Cameron Winter,” the cheetah replied.

“Cameron Winter…it is a good name.” The wolf sat back down in his chair and put his thumb and forefinger under his chin, rubbing under his muzzle for a moment. “Hmm…you’re a cheetah?” he said, ignoring her question for this new revelation. He stood from his chair and the two wolves that had remained behind on either side of her tensed up, ready to stop her in case of an attack against their alpha. He had a similar build to Light…but not as muscular.

Harsh Winter? Cameron thought to herself to try to come up with an explanation to the slightly more lithe build. She stood still when she sensed the tension from the wolves beside her and leaned back a little as the pack’s alpha leaned in close for a look.

“I’ve never seen a cheetah in real life before but…your fur is covered with something? Why are you disguised like a Mountain Lion?” he asked her as he backed away a little when he felt her anxiety. He turned to walk back to his chair and faced the wolf as he did. He sniffed the air loud enough that Cameron could hear him. A confused look came over the black and white wolf’s face as he looked back over his shoulder at the cheetah.

Alignak put his paws behind his back and turned to face Cameron, his footpaws beside Light and the one that was checking over him. “What is this large metal coll-?”

Tlun gasped and looked up to her mate.

The leader looked down at her with an expression that seemed to be on the same page as her in understanding the situation. “You smelled it too, didn’t you?”

Cameron looked from one to the other but didn’t know what was going on. “Umm?” she asked as she was curious as to the sudden change of mood in the room. She was worried they had smelled the explosives on the collar, even though it was sealed to the point where they couldn’t have smelled them, and she tried to hide her nervousness. She was expecting the device to explode at any moment. As long as the topic of the Fanged Teeth doesn’t come up we could still salvage the situation…Please no… she thought to herself.

The white wolf nodded and took out something from a jar beside them that had a very pungent smell akin to bacon. Cameron winced and started drooling. “He’s from our pack,” Tlun replied as she held the smelling salts under Light’s nose.

Light’s nose twitched under the delicious scent as he started to drool and stir from his sleep. He opened his eyes to that of the most beautiful wolfess he’d ever seen. “Am I in heaven?” he asked as he saw her eyes tearing up. The wolfess glomped the wolf and wagged her tail. “You’re back!” she shouted, barely holding back her sobs.

Cameron’s jaw hung open from surprise and shock. Her ears were lowered in her shocked state and was still very confused. It was obvious this wolfess knew Light…and it seemed it was in quite an intimate manner from the way she embracing him. She looked to Alignak and noticed he was also crying tears of joy. When he saw she was looking at him though, he wiped his eyes before quickly regaining his composure. She tilted her head to the side as if trying to figure out what was going on with this new revelation. “Wait wait…” she said as she held up her paws to signal for everyone to stop what they were doing. “I thought you two were mates…” she said as she pointed from Tlun to Alignak.

Light was a little groggy and his fur was matted with a little blood around the area he’d hit his head in the pet carrier. He was wondering where he was and why this beautiful wolfess was hugging him. He was even more surprised as the other wolf approached and embraced him from the other side. “Oookaaaay…” he said as he looked to Cameron before looking around the den. At least she’s safe…but where am I?

Light breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh good. Wait…WHAT??!!! he burst out as his eyes became so big around that the colors of his eyes seemed to shrink down to pin points.

Cameron’s expression was nearly as surprised as Light’s. She’d heard the story from Light during their travels up to this point and the white wolf had explained his pack was wiped out and that his evil brother and he were the last two from his pack. She ran a paw back through her headfur and grinned with an I-can’t-believe-this expression. “Heh…now I’ve seen everything.”

A guard nearby whispered something in Cameron’s ear which caused the fur on her neck to stand up.

“Okay…maybe I haven’t seen everything,” she added quietly under her breath.

She turned her attention toward the apparent reunion of Light and his mom…and assuming the chieftain of this pack was her mate…his father was also joining in on this group hug. Light was still trying to let this all sink in when he felt another set of arms sneak in around him, joining in on the hug. He looked over his shoulder to see a cheetah disguised as a mountain lion up against his back. “Uh…hello,” he replied with a nervous grin. He was getting squeezed pretty hard by everyone and was almost panicking at the situation…not sure what was going on. This can’t be…my pack is dead…my family…everyone… he seemed so sure of it…but there was something oddly comforting and familiar about the two wolves holding him like this. “Uh…Cameron…?” he said as he looked back over his shoulder again.

The cheetah blushed and let go as she cleared her throat. “I’m uh…just going to wait outside,” she said as she started off. The guard looked at Alignak and the chief wolf gave him a nod, indicating he should follow her outside and provide her with anything she’d need.

It was some time after she’d left before the two wolves that had been squeezing their supposedly lost son regained their composure. Light nervously just let them hug him…able to withstand their powerful grasp. The white-furred wolf cleared his throat as he eyed the wolfess before him. She was very youthful in appearance. He never would have guessed she was his mother and he was still skeptical. He remembered very little of his youth and he was wondering if the organization he was hunting was behind it.

After Cameron had left, Light quickly squirmed out from the hugging and turned to face them growling and ready to pounce. “I don’t get what game you’re playing but you’re not my parents,” the wolf said. The remaining three guard wolves in the room advanced. Two took their place between their leader and his mate and the other was behind Light.

“Stand down,” Alignak said as he stood holding out a paw to indicate the guards go back to their positions. He showed no sign of malice as he slowly walked up to Light while Tlun stood where she was, wiping the rest of her tears away as she appeared to be trying her hardest not to rush up to her son.

Light raised an eyebrow in suspicion as he tried to calm himself down. “Who are…?” he asked himself with panted breath as he shook his head from the lightheadedness of standing up too quickly. “Who are you?”

Alignak turned to Tlun with an expression that seemed to indicate he understood Light’s confusion. He turned back around to try to explain. He shook his head. “Tlun…” he said as he held a paw out to his mate before putting a paw on his chest. “Alignak,” he replied to Light’s question. “We are the alphas of this pack…and your parents,” he replied as he took another step.

Light took a step back as he did. “Lies…” he said softly as he shook his head. “My entire pack was killed…I saw…I saw…” he held his head with his right paw as if it hurt him trying to remember…which probably wasn’t surprising considering he had hit his head quite a bit over the last couple of years. “No…” he replied as he stumbled a bit. He held out a paw in warning for Alignak to step back as he was starting toward Light to help him. “Stay back…” Light said with a growl. “Just let me think,” he said as he plopped down on a stone staircase leading to an upper level of the den inside the tree.

Tlun took a step forward, not wanting to be away from her son any longer…not caring about her safety as she embraced Light again and pinned his arms at his side. Light made no move to resist, finding he was fairly weak from all the energy he’d used in carrying Cameron as far as he did. “Smell,” she whispered in his ear as she placed her neck before his nose.

Light sniffed and blinked while shaking his head. There was something vaguely familiar about this wolfess’ scent. He closed his eyes and the images he had in his memory of the village burning and the corpses of gun-shot wound laden wolves started to become fuzzy. He sniffed again and closed his eyes and winced as if his headache suddenly got stronger and the image was replaced by one of silhouettes standing over him…they slowly started to become less blurred. The olfactory memories became stronger as he remembered the scent of the female wolf as she came into focus.

Mom, the white furred wolf heard in his mind as the memories of a wolf pack’s destruction and demise shattered like glass and his eyes shot open and he was panting as he put his paws on her shoulders and pushed her away. His headache suddenly coming back and then slowly vanishing as he held his head with a paw and blinked once it was gone.

“Mom…” he whispered as he looked at her before smiling. “MOM!” he exclaimed and embraced her tightly, causing the two of them to burst into tears as she hugged her lost son back. “How can this be…I th-thought…I thought you and…everyone,” Light said through sobs as his mind searched for an answer to the puzzling question.

“Shhhh…it’s okay, Pup,” she replied in his ear as she held him close. The two of them held each other for several moments before they started to calm themselves.

Light sniffled and shook his head as his muzzle rested beside her head. “N-No…it’s Light now…” he replied, forgetting he must have been lost before he had a chance to choose his name.

“Light,” she replied softly. “My son has a name.”

“Light,” Alignak said with a proud voice. “It’s a good name. We shall have a feast for our son’s return!” he proclaimed throughout the den to one of the guards he dismissed. “Alert the rest of the pack to hunt for the largest, strongest caribou.”

The guard nodded and left as the alpha walked up to Light and put a paw on his shoulder. “Welcome home, Son,” he replied with a surprisingly soft-spoken voice.

“Cameron…” Light said suddenly as he remembered his friend. He also suddenly remembered the collar. Crap… the wolf thought to himself as he realized Fang might know the location of this pack now. The collar was obscured by the blanket during his transport but he didn’t know that. However, the white wolf couldn’t have known that the Fanged Teeth gang was going to be busy today. Nothing I can do about it now, he thought to himself as he put a paw on his collar. He turned back toward his mom and blushed, looking away when he realized that he was.

“She’s fine, Dear,” his mother replied in a voice that was soothing to Light’s ears. “What’s wrong?” she asked when she saw her son blushing.

“No offense, Dad,” Light replied with a nervous chuckle as his mom giggled.

“I am quite young compared to your father,” she replied with a smirk. The white furred wolf nodded in understanding before his mom embraced him again. “I thought I’d lost you, Light…” she said with a sigh.

Light nodded and hugged his mom and dad as much as he could nuzzling their faces while his tail wagged excitedly. He couldn’t believe his pack was still alive…and he’d just met his parents. He never would have imagined this in his wildest dreams.

Lights’s father, Alignak, put a paw on the his son’s shoulder. “Light…I know this may be a bit much for you right now and I’m not sure if you remember but your mother and I must know.” Light nodded before his dad continued. “Do you know what happened to your brother?”

Light’s reaction were not what his parents were expecting as his lips curled up onto his muzzle and he started growling before stopping and turning away from them when they looked at him with worried expressions. Should I tell them he’s alive?…Do I tell them he’s working with an evil organization that brainwashes feral animals to do their long lists of dirty and illegal work? he asked himself as he wished he knew what to do to maintain his family’s honor. He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he replied. “I don’t know.”

“What was that about?” Alignak whispered to Tlun, looking at Light out of the corner of his eye.

Light easily overheard them though and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry…I’ve had a long day and I’m on a very important mission…I can’t stay here…and I’m…upset about that,” he explained as he lowered his ear and rubbed his upper arm with a paw. He was hoping to cover up the real reason for his growling with that. He couldn’t bring himself to explain to his parents that one of their children was an agent with a bad track record. “I wish I could have been more help…but a brother, huh? I wonder what he’d be like now if he is still alive.”

---------

Temno sneezed from inside a crate on board the postal delivery bush airplane, a Cessna 208 Caravan. He growled softly to himself at having been forced to make such quick changes in his plans. He would have rather flown in first class. Light and his companions were proving more formidable than he’d previously thought. He knew where they were headed and he just had to make sure he could head them off on the way. It was no longer an issue of pursuing his brother but of protecting the headquarters of Fenice Nera. Soon… the black fur wolf thought to himself as he grinned.

---------

Emily hadn't eaten in several days. It took Mike convincing her that she wouldn’t be allowed to work in the library in the condition she was for her to actually get to the cafeteria. Even then she wasn't very hungry. The raccoon sighed as he looked over at her. The menacing face of Light was looming over him whenever he thought of Emily and himself being together somehow. He shook his head and input some information into the computer to check in the books. He was so worried about her. She'd lost a surprising amount of weight so quickly. He closed the book and walked over to her. Emily walked out of sight of the raccoon and went down an aisle of books. The raccoon followed her to make sure she was safe. He walked between the book shelves and found the canine.

Emily had dozed off again and was leaning against a book shelf. Mike shook his head as he put a paw on her shoulder, causing her to jump. "Eep!" she cried out in surprise, prompting a feline at a table nearby to make a shushing sound. She blushed as she turned her head away from Mike. “You startled me,” she said in a tired voice. “Emily…” he started as she slowly turned the rest of her body to continue toward the section of the shelf where she stopped to put away some books, nodding off and resting her head against the book shelf again.

Mike sighed and shook his head. This was too much…she had to rest. He stood beside her and quietly waved off some residents that were trying to get by. “Just rest for now,” he said quietly as he leaned against the book shelf, watching over her.

----------

I didn't proofread this as heavily as I thought I did so if there are any corrections that need to be done, please PM me.

(Early Morning, in the far north west of Alaska during late March)Location: Howling Moon Wolf Pack’s Settlement

It had been several weeks and Light had enjoyed reconnecting with his biological family and learning the ways of the pack. He’d even been meditating and learning more how to separate himself from his subconscious…something he hoped would help against the brainwashing program he’d been infected with many years ago. The fact that he had a family once again helped immensely in terms of his ability to relax and not worry about things. But there was still a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. There’s something I’ve still got to do. The thought persisted until the white furred wolf could no longer take it.

Light nudged Cameron and whispered in her ear. “Cam…you awake?”

The cheetah stirred in her jacket she was using for warmth as she turned and looked at him. “Yeah…what’s wrong?”

“We have to go,” Light said with a sad expression on his face. “We have to sneak out…I can’t face my parents with them knowing I’m leaving again,” he lowered his ears and looked down and away from her.

She sighed and nodded as she slowly and quietly got up. She noticed the pack Light had on and took the one he handed her.

“Supplies. I studied the maps they had here and I know where the rendezvous point is. I’m sure Frank and Frankie are still waiting for us. They wouldn’t have sent out a search party. Too many questions would have come up…suspicions been raised,” He continued as he walked out of the den with Cameron following like the stealthy feline she was.

Soon they had made it past the guards stationed on the perimeter. It might have been enough guard against a rival pack but not for trained soldiers like Light and Cameron. Light looked over his shoulder one last time when the campfires were in the distance. Cameron walked past him and sighed as she looked back and saw Light hesitating. “C’mon,” she said as she gently took his wrist and walked, leading him along in the direction they had been walking. Light followed after her but kept looking back over his shoulder as long as he could see a hint of the pack.

-----

Temno had made it past Light and Cameron. He had lost the trail after he knew they’d boarded a plane. The Fenice Nera organization had many secrets…even amongst its own members. The black furred wolf knew of the location Light and his comrades would have been told about. It was the only reason they’d travel out in this general direction. The black wolf waited some distance from the Headquarters in that region and grinned at how foolish they were to travel to this particular location. There were only a handful of paths that led to this location he’d set up camp and he’d been monitoring all of them and keeping sharp in his guard. “Alright, Light…let’s see what you can do,” he said quietly to himself with a smirk. “Your brother is waiting.”

-----

Emily was crying in shame. She’d practically thrown herself at Mike after weeks of him holding her and trying to comfort her. She couldn’t take it anymore and let herself succumb to her desperate emotional state and now she was regretting it. She lay in the bed in his room as she sobbed facing away from him, trying not to wake him.

Mike was pretending to be asleep while facing away from Emily but he was tearing up as he heard her crying. He felt ashamed. They had had a wonderful night after several great times just hanging out together but he couldn’t help but think Light wasn’t coming back…despite the wolf’s promise to. He wondered if Emily could ever forgive him for showing his affection to her so strongly the last few days. After a few moments he heard Emily stop crying and her breathing was steady and regular. “What am I going to do?” he asked himself in a whisper as he cleared his eyes with the back of a paw, moving slowly so as not to disturb the restful sleep the canine beside him

The raccoon gulped in nervousness as he thought what Light might do to him if he ever did return. That wolf will tear me apart, he thought to himself with wide open eyes full of fear. What could a raccoon do against that a military-trained killing machine of a dog? Maybe Emily will stop him…if she was in a forgiving mood toward me. Mike tried to relax and sleep but his dreams were restless. He dreamed of a black and white wolf in a brutal and epic fight but it didn’t seem like either of them were able to gain an advantage for long during it. He awoke in a cold sweat after witnessing the outcome and stifled a gasp as he realized Emily was still asleep. I need to stop eating fish right before bed. he made a note to himself as he went back to a restless sleep.

-----

Light and Cameron eventually made their way to the rendezvous point before being stopped at a gated area that was fenced off on the outskirts of the wildlife preserve. The wolf noticed a camera and waved to it before the gate unlocked and slid open by the motorized opener. He took Cameron’s paw and led her confidently down the path to a house attached to a large hanger. He knocked on the door and he heard the voice of an animal…an individual that sounded familiar t him somehow. His ears perked up in curiosity as the door opened and there stood an otter. A Japanese River Otter. The wolf’s jaw dropped open. “H-Haru!” he exclaimed.

“Well it’s about time you sh-ERP!” he shouted as he got tackled to the ground with the wolf standing atop him on his paws and knees wagging his tail and getting licked.

The wolf stopped after the otter started to show signs of annoyance, helping Haru back up to his footpaws with a paw. “But what are you doing way out here in the middle of nowhere?” Light asked the otter.

Haru dusted himself off and tightened the jacket around himself before pointing over his shoulder to the man and Dachshund standing behind him. “They requested some air transportation under the radar to help you get closer to your destination. I’d rather know what this is about but I know they’d never tell a civilian. Hello…Who’s this?” the otter asked as he leaned against the door frame with a paw holding it for support while he moved his footpaw behind the other while looking at the cheetahess. The size difference would have been cute if Cameron appeared amused by the blatant flirtatious attitude Haru was displaying.

The cheetahess rolled her eyes in reply as she crossed her arms over her chest and started giving off a don’t-get-near-me-creep attitude. “Cameron Winter…” she replied coldly as she looked toward Light. “Friend of yours?” she asked with a stiff nod toward the otter, noticing the obvious comradery Light and Haru were displaying.

Light chuckled and smiled at her in response. “He’s harmless…for the most part. Just don’t let your guard down around him,” he warned her before walking past Haru.

Cameron gave Haru a wide berth as she sidestepped around him to follow the wolf inside. She hugged Frank and Frankie after Light had done the same.

“You guys waited…that’s a relief,” Light said once the cheetah had finished giving them her hugs. “I didn’t know this was the location you guys had picked out…why didn’t you tell me Haru was going to be here…and how do you know him?” he asked excitedly while wagging his tail.

“First you tell us why you’re so late?” Frankie commanded while looking at his watch for insincerity’s sake. Light and Cameron were very late…several weeks, in fact; something that wouldn’t be easy to explain if they had to make something up. Cameron was the first to explain. “Light found his family…right here in Alaska,” she said as she grabbed Light’s arm excitedly and hopped up and down a bit before a surprised look from Light caused her to clear her throat and let go of his arm before combing paw through her headfur nervously. “He um wanted to stay a bit.”

“Well now…Why would Fang allow Light to delay on his mission?” Frank wondered aloud as he looked at the collar around Light’s neck. The light was still blinking so it was still transmitting. “This thing’s battery is amazing…I want to take it apart,” the Dachshund said with a grin.

Light pushed him away. “No…we don’t want…I mean…why do you think he’d let me delay this long, Cameron?” he asked the cheetah with a nervous gaze.

Cameron shrugged but the others could tell she was curious about that as well. “Hmm…should I try contacting HQ?” she asked as she looked around. “Haru…was it?” she asked as she looked down at the otter.

“Yes, my dear,” the otter replied with a smirk.

She stifled a gagging sound and tried her best to fight the impulsive thought of punching him across the face as she grinned and tried to look friendly. “Do you have a radio or communications room somewhere?” she asked him.

“Of course. Follow me, Cameron,” Haru replied as he lead her down the hall and opened the door for her.

Cameron put a paw on his chest as he tried to follow her inside. Light raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. “I need to contact Fang alone…standard procedure,” she said as she tried to close the door. Light’s paw stopped it before it closed. “I don’t trust you that much. Not yet…I’m listening in on this conversation,” he said unflinchingly as he looked at her in the eyes. She knew he wouldn’t be convinced otherwise and exhaled sharply in an exasperated sigh. “Fine…but he stays outside,” she said as she pointed to Haru. “I have no problem with that,” Light said with a grin as he slipped inside with Cameron and locked the door behind them.

Haru looked annoyed and walked back down the hallway. “Dang military personnel…coming into my house and telling me what I can and can’t do,” he said as he mumbled to himself. “Argh! You’re all crazy!” he shouted before continuing toward the kitchen.

Cameron started up the system and checked the clock and date and turned the radio to the correct frequency. “Our organization uses specialized frequencies each day so that they’re harder to track,” she explained to Light as she was about to push the button on the mic. “Haru’s got style…I’ll give him that…this stuff is old school but still in great shape,” she noticed and giggled as Light looked at her like she was crazy. “Be quiet. I don’t want them to know you’re here,” she said as she pushed the button down. “This is Cheeter34, come in Sharpee,” she said into the mic and let go to wait for a reply. After a minute she was starting to worry. “Something’s not right…Sharpee is always at the radio waiting,” she said to Light before trying again. “This is Cheeter-three-four, is anyone there? Over?” she let go again.

“Maybe they’re using a different frequency?” Light suggested as he shook his head.

“Impossible…they would never deviate from the assigned frequencies unless…oh no…” she said as he eyes widened with fear.

The wolf suddenly looked worried as well. “You okay?…unless what?”

“Unless headquarters fell under attack…” she said as she pushed the button harder and spoke louder. “Is anyone there? Hello?” the cheetah tried again and closed her eyes, listening carefully.

“A noise on the other end came through but it was garbled and couldn’t be heard clearly,” she opened her eyes and turned up the power to the antennae to boost the signal. “This is Cheeter34…who is this?” she yelled.

“Ah…Cameron…how nice to hear from you?” Cameron opened her eyes wider.

“Fang?” she asked in a surprised voice.

Light opened his eyes wide in surprise as well. Why is he replying instead of this Sharpee guy?

“The one and only…” he replied after a pause. There was a delay which meant he was using a radio from a long way away. “I’m glad I got ahold of you. Some pesky humans and animals got in the way and captured and killed most of the organization. Most of the equipment has been confiscated and we’re scattered for now. “I’m sure a lot of them are deserters among them…traitors,” he said with a growl that caused the hairs on Cameron’s neck to stand up on end.

Light wasn’t liking this conversation. He gulped as he expected his collar to go up at any moment, taking Cameron with him.

“You’re not one of them though…are you Cameron?” he asked with a voice that just screamed smug look at the other end of the conversation.

“N-No, Sir!” she replied.

“Good girl,” he replied with a chuckle. “Make sure that wolf finishes his mission…and don’t tell him the collar remote is no longer functional…I want him to still be motivated under my rules. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir!” Cameron replied with a steady voice.

“I’ve got to go off the grid for a while…you know the procedure,” he reminded her. “…and I’m a dog of my word. Light is free to go back to whatever life he had before running into me. “I didn’t actually expect you two to still be alive. Consider this our last conversation if you two manage to pull it off,” he said calmly.

“Last conversation, Sir?” Cameron asked in a worried tone.

-----

“You’ve been replaced, Cameron. I no longer have a need for you in that position. The turnaround time here is quicker than you might think,” Fang replied as he looked down at the body of one of the deserters of his organization laying on the ground. “To be honest…” he said with a sigh. “You’re special to me, Cameron…I don’t want to have to kill you so…after you complete your mission…I never want to see you or that wolf again. But if either of you utter any word about the inner workings of my organization or even whisper the name of it in the breeze…” he said as the anger swelled in his voice before returning to a cold calm. “…I will single handedly murder every single one of the creatures you two have ever known. Do I make myself clear?”

Cameron hesitated for a moment in shock and fear before finally replying “Crystal…Sir,” she replied.

“Good,” he replied and ended the conversation by shutting off the power to the antenna. He looked down and grinned at the body on the ground beside him. “Should always listen to your leader,” he reminded him before exiting out the building into the blinding light of the sun and walked out of the radio station in the middle of a dessert.

-----

Cameron sat back in the chair exhausted from standing and shaking a bit in fear. Light rubbed her shoulders and she calmed immediately. “Oh…thanks, Light…”

The wolf nodded and opened the door. “So do you think he’s telling the truth about the collar?” he asked in a somber voice as he looked over the shoulder at her.

“It’s no longer a threat,” she said as she put a paw on her face. “It’s transmitting to equipment that can no longer receive the footage. He’s not the type to bluff like that.” After a pause she looked over her shoulder at the wolf. “Are you still going to go through with it?”

“I have to…for him,” Light replied before turning back around and exiting the room, closing the door behind him. He continued on toward Frank and nodded. “Take the collar off if you can,” he said in a more serious tone than usual.

Frank grinned and took out his toolbox. “Alright,” the Dachshund replied from the voicebox as he had Light lay down and worked around to eventually find the release mechanism. It unlocked with a click and he carried it away to tinker with it a bit more while Light turned to Frankie as he sat on the couch reading a book. “Alright…let’s hear what you’ve got planned since I missed out on a lot of this. Frankie nodded and told the wolf everything they had planned.

The low hum of the Shin Maywa US-2’s four prop engines vibrated throughout the experienced body of the aircraft. The cheetah beside the wolf had her eyes closed and was tensing up beside him. Light could sense her anxiety but couldn’t do much about it since he was also feeling a similar sensation. He looked over at Frank and Frankie. The two looked only slightly worried. The wolf tried to raise his voice to be heard over the engines. “Why did we go with this idea again?” he replied as he double checked his straps. Cameron opened her eyes at the question from the wolf and did the same to her own straps, pulling them tighter. She suddenly put a paw on the wolf’s shoulder at the lurch of the aircraft as it hit an updraft, the pilot quickly stabilized it, though Light was sure he’d heard her gasp just before she wrapped her arms around his upper arm. The wolf raised an eyebrow at the cheetah and she let go quickly, sitting up in her seat and trying to relax. Frank and Frankie looked at each other in response trying not to smile before looking back at Light.

The two had spent the last week going over plans with Cameron in regards to any contingency. What the cheetah seemed to lack in field experience, she made up for in holding her own in mission planning. As expected of Fang’s organization, he didn’t hold back in member ability. At the reminder of him Light slid a paw along the bare spot on his neck, hoping his fur would protect him enough from the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic.

Cameron punched the wolf in the shoulder for calling her plan into question. “It’ll work! Don’t you trust them?!” she shouted as the light flashed beside the door. “Bundle up!” She said as she tightened the scarf around Light’s neck. She seemed to be getting more comfortable around him, although they had been together through thick and thin already. Light stood and turned to look at Frank and Frankie before nodding to each of them.

Frank hugged Light unexpectedly and Frankie gave the wolf a salute before patting him on the head. “Good luck, Light. We’ll draw their attention and meet you some other time. “Good luck.”

Light nodded and gave a hug back to Frankie, tearing up a little. He hadn’t known the two for long but he’d gotten close to them in that time and they’d helped him out immensely. He was nearly free of the commands that he’d been brainwashed using the techniques they’d developed and they were the only other family he’d known besides the short time he’d had with his biological family.

“Thanks for everything guys!” he shouted with a grin. “He looked down at Frank and smiled before ruffling his headfur. “From what I’ve seen you may be as good as me someday, Frank.”

The Dachshund blushed and smiled, wagging his tail. He was getting praise from his idol. He stifled a bark of joy and forced a serious face but couldn’t control his tail. “Thank you, Sir!” he replied.

Light chuckled. The praise he’d given Frank was well deserved.

The light turned on indicating it was time to jump…but this time Light was in control of his leap. He stretched out his arms and spread his legs as the icy blast of air came through the door and almost caused him to slam into the back of the aircraft when he quickly closed them. “Nice…where did you get these from?” he asked Haru over his noise cancelling headset.

“It’s a secret,” Haru replied with a smirk from the pilot’s seat wearing aviators and a similar headset connected to the internal communications system of the aircraft. He was also using stilts of a sort to reach the yaw pedals. The rest of the controls were similarly modified for use by the otter as he sat atop the phone books to see through the windshield. “They’re a special radar absorbent material. It shouldn’t be a problem,” he reminded his friend before banking slightly to the left, heading toward the Russian border still over international waters. “This is Akikawa Haru, requesting safe passage into Russian territory,” he said into the radio headset as he continued on his flight path.

The otter and his twin brothers usually travelled to night clubs that were available for pets and those that allowed exotic, non-pet animals such as themselves in as patrons. Their level of diplomatic immunity rivaled that of the Milton ferrets, although they didn’t really care much for the entrepreneurial lifestyle and responsibilities that they carried. They usually preferred to be left to their own devices and weren’t attracted to fame and glory. That level of frequenting the more expensive tourist attractions of foreign countries allowed for the Akikawa brothers to travel to these countries with little hassle. Light was just hoping Fenice Nera wasn’t wise to his connection with the otters.

A Russian voice on the other end yelled something back but was soon replaced by a calmer sounding English speaking voice, but the second voice had a thick Russian accent. “Mr. Akikawa, you’re cleared entry for Russian waters,” he said before Haru thanked him. He gave a thumbs-up to the group and Light and Cameron walked up to the doorway and hopped out one at a time.

Light and Cameron evacuated the plane and as the icy cold air of the far north hit their faces they shivered uncontrollably before spreading their arms and legs and allowing the specially designed fabric of the suit catch the air and start to move them forward as they descended. The wolf looked over his shoulder briefly to check on Cameron and she was performing surprisingly well without having done this sort of thing before. He turned his head to face forward again; more relaxed since he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about her. He just hoped the radar-absorbent fabric that the suits were made of worked as they approached the eastern coastline of the world’s largest country. Off in the distance, the plane carrying Haru and the two Franks flew on as it turned toward the south and continued along the coast.

Cameron checked her altimeter watch and eventually it was coming close to the altitude they were supposed to be deploying their chutes but she looked at Light in front of her and he made no motion to check his own wrist device.

Light was breathing slowly with his ears folded back to prevent his sensitive hearing from being overwhelmed from the overbearing sound of rushing wind through them. The wolf's normally high level of discipline faltered as he twitched a bit after closing his eyes. The moment reminded him of another mission he and Keith had been on when they’d parachuted into enemy territory…but that story would have to be for another time.

Light suddenly opened his eyes and pulled the chute cord at the very limits of the dive, prompting Cameron to do the same not a moment too late. He soared inland on the chute as he maneuvered between the trees. Cameron did her best to follow, having no prior experience in piloting a chute. Eventually the wolf came to a stop as his parachute got hung up on a tree and he swung forward before he stopped and swung back like a pendulum from the chute strings caught in the deciduous trees of the far north.

Cameron continued past the white-furred wolf, barely missing him as she passed his tree and widened her eyes in horror as a large branch appeared in front of her. Reacting with cat-like reflexes, Cam extended her claws and swung them over her head, cutting the wires from the chute cords and started to fall. She reached up and gripped the branch she was about to hit and caught the lower half of it before she lost her grip and was falling once again from about 25 feet above the ground. “Crap!” she called out as she righted herself in mid air and spotted another branch nearby. She reached over with her left paw and managed to catch this one, stopping her fall for a moment before the branch broke off and she was falling again. The brief moment she had contact with the second branch had given her a chance to regain her balance however, and the cheetahess managed to fall parallel to the tree the branch was attached to and dig her claws into the bark. She gritted her teeth as the handy feline claws dug into the rough texture of the tree and she finally came to a stop six feet from the ground. She looked down and exhaled a sigh of relief as she loosened the depth of her claws into the tree and slowly slid down to the permafrost-covered ground below her. She collapsed onto her back with panted breath as she looked over to see Light tossing the edge of a rope he’d flung over the branch he was hanging from and creating an anchor to repel down with after cutting the cords on his chute.

“Are you hurt?” the wolf asked as he offered her a paw after running over to her.

“I’m alright,” Cameron repilied as she took his paw. “C’mon,” he replied as they continued toward their destination using Light’s GPS watch.

Cameron followed at a jogging pace as Light seemed anxious to get on the way.

A white-furred wolf continued on against the bitter cold of the late evening. It was now mid Spring and the transition to Spring weather seemed like it would never come. The sun had only been over the horizon for about seven hours that day. He flexed his toes inside the mukluks the pack of wolves had given to him as a gift for having returned home. He and Cameron had picked up the gear that Haru airdropped on his way inland over Russian land. Light wore everything his family had given him proudly…seeing as how it was the only reason he’d managed to survive this long in the cold. The Russian Arctic loomed a few miles away as he trudged forth. He wished he hadn’t tried making the other three stay behind. Frank and Frankie agreed since they’d done everything they could to help him within the final request of Keith. There was only one individual he hadn’t managed to shake.

“Light, wait up!” The cheetah called out as she shivered slightly inside her Inuit style parka. She was trailing a bit behind but managed to keep pace…most of the time. She was determined not to let the wolf down and to prove herself to him…she’d grown rather fond of the wolf over the last few weeks.

Light rolled his eyes behind his UV protective goggles and looked at the display on his GPS device. According to Fang, the coordinates registered that they were getting close. They had been hiking as long as the light would allow them every day.

The wolf and cheetah had travelling for who knew how long? Light was on edge. He held out a paw to stop her as she got closer. “Wait, Cameron,” he replied with a frown.

Part of the cheetah’s Mohawk that stuck out from the white-thick-furred hood of the parka was a stark contrast, black with green tips danced in the wind across her forehead, cool blue eyes looking back at the wolf. It seemed liked she was trying to tell the wolf something with her gaze. “Huh?”

Light started blushing and he cleared his throat. “We’re getting close and we’ve been walking all day. We should rest here until tomorrow morning.”

Cameron nodded and breathed a sigh of relief as she let the back slide off of her shoulders. The heavy pack landed with a thud behind her on the shallow snow layer. “Oh thank you,” she replied as she bent her arm back with her paws on her hips, a popping sound coming from along her lower vertebrae. “I didn’t think I could go much farther right now.”

Light nodded, his more serious side showing since they’d left the pack’s den. He knew what lay ahead of them was difficult, although he had little idea of what actually lay before them. He was planning on ditching the cheetah the first chance he got. He didn’t want her getting hurt because of him. He reached for the tent in his pack and started to set it up. Cameron watched and started on setting up her own. She browsed her pack several times before growling. “I don’t be-!” She shouted before Light jumped up and clamped her muzzle shut with a paw while holding a finger up to his lips. “Shh,” the wolf said quietly with an annoyed look on his face. He let go of her muzzle when she started to struggle and growl. After he let her muzzle go she continued at a whisper this time. “I don’t believe this. My tent’s gone.”

Light raised an eyebrow and looked down at her pack. “Dang it, Cameron…You need to take better care of your stuff,” he replied in a scolding tone. She lowered her ears and grumbled before Light put his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose, indicating his impatient mood. “Okay don’t worry about it,” he replied as he moved his paw away from his face. “We’ll just have to share a tent.”

As the two of them set up camp for the night Light and Cameron climbed into the one person tent, having to be scrunched up with sleeping bags. Cameron was blushing at having her secret crush in such close proximity.

“Good night, Cam,” Light replied as he turned his back to her and closed his eyes, falling asleep quickly.

Cameron nodded and replied, “Night, Light,” she replied with a stifled giggle and closed her eyes to go to bed.

-----Mid May

The following few days proceeded monotonously. Hiking during the day and setting up camp in the unbearably cold nights. Eventually the two had gotten close enough to the point of sleeping together in the same sleeping bag since it was very crowded in the tent with two sleeping bags. Light felt himself blushing each night with Cameron seemingly falling asleep in his arms.

It was slow going over the frozen, mountainous terrain. Eventually Light and Cameron had made it close to their destination. The clouds overhead threatened rain, judging from the smell in the air as Light’s nose inhaled the tell-tail scent of precipitation in the distance. “C’mon, Cam…we need to hurry and find some shelter,” the wolf warned his comrade with worry in his voice. He tensed up when he heard lightning in the distance. Maybe something more secure than a tent. he thought to himself as he travelled into a canyon area looking for a cave.

A lightning flash alerted Light to the canine form coming down from above, a clash of thunder muffling the shout of attack from a wolf.

Light drew his knife and looked quickly as he held an open paw toward Cameron that was following just behind him. “Run!” he shouted just as he turned to block a knife strike from the black furred wolf, the clang of metal against metal vibrated the knife as he let his paw give slightly, his grip on the weapon softening to allow his wrist to take the strike and turn the knife in his paw blade down so he could hold his weapon and counterattack.

But Cameron didn’t run, she couldn’t, not while she had a weapon and Light was in trouble. She raised the weapon to fire but Temno saw that and quickly sidestepped toward the cheetah while defending against Light’s counterattack. She was about to fire when a knife blade suddenly appeared and glinted in the sunlight while it started flying toward her. The wolf threw a specialized knife at the cheetah. Cameron didn’t have a chance to fire before having to duck the knife it came so fast it grazed the side of her face, cutting it a little deep before it exploded behind her with a concussive force ringing in her ears. Temno’s footpaw contacted her in the solar plexus causing her to double over and roll to the side due to the loss of balance from the dizzying effects of the thrown weapon. Even her experience as a Tactical Officer couldn’t prepare her for the ambush Temno had managed to execute. Although he did have the element of surprise and the combat training, which she didn’t have. She clawed at the ground and gritted her teeth as she mewed in pain, her paw clutching where the wolf had kicked her. She looked up, the ringing in her ears overriding the muffled sounds of the knife to knife blows and contact of fists and footpaws against blocks between the two wolves.

“Cam!” Light shouted as he continued focusing on the issue at hand. His blood was pumping with adrenaline, a fight for his life wasn’t something he’d experienced for a long while now and he fund he had gotten soft. The white-furred wolf was mostly on the defensive. As the fight went on, he had a feeling the reason he had lasted this long was because Temno was toying with him. The rain started to become a lot more noticeable as the ground started to get saturated. Cam’s paws and footpaws started to slip a little in the thin surface layer of mud.

The dark furred wolf was attacking out of desperation. He was trying to end the fight early because he was running out of time. Fenice Nera wouldn’t let the wolf discover the location of their base. He might have had the coordinates somehow but he was still worried about them actually finding it. It was one of the lesser defended outposts despite being headquarters. They had assumed no one knew of its location. The only one that might have known was Fang but they’d finished him off a long time ago…at least they thought. Temno was questioning this now that Light was here after visiting Mexico. Who would have thought that Fenice Nera would have turned a blind eye toward a seemingly insignificant animal fighting pet smuggling ring?

Light noticed there was something wrong. Despite being on the defensive he was still actually able to defend himself while Temno was attacking a bit wildly and his expression showed a bit of worry and seemed genuine. We must be getting close.

Temno pulled a fragmentation grenade from his belt with one paw while attacking with the one wielding a knife. Light saw the dark wolf’s paw reaching for the grenade and countered the attack, sidestepping the black-furred wolf and deflecting his paw as he reached for the grenade, pulling the pin on one next to it with deft hands despite the grenade being secured firmly in place with the heavy Velcro.

The black wolf didn’t let this motion go unnoticed and backed off while cursing under his breath and used his left paw to stop reaching for the grenade he was originally going to reach for and went for the one Light had removed the pin from, gripping the Velcro strap and using his right paw to grasp the grenade and toss it aside before taking cover on a large rock nearby. Light ran toward Cameron and grabbed her paw as he carefully ran through the mud. Cameron didn’t argue as she followed the wolf as best she could as he led her by the paw back the way they came.

Temno gave chase and growled loud enough for the white wolf and dark-furred cheetah to hear him as they tried to outrun the unencumbered wolf. They were carrying packs and he wasn’t…and he was catching up fast.

“Cameron!” Light called out and pulled her in front of him and pushed her while cutting off the straps on his pack and tossing it toward her along with the GPS device on the shoulder strap. “Take it and go, I’ll catch up,” he added excitedly as he turned to meet the black-furred wolf’s blade with his own. In front of Light’s face was a snarling wolf muzzle gnashing the teeth. “Go! Now!” he commanded again before using force to push Temno away from him and using a series of distracting attacks.

The cheetah was recovering from the concussive grenade and nodded as she turned and ran, carrying the pack with her, not looking back as she ducked and weaved through the bushes. After seeing the two wolves fight, her fear of leaving Light alone was alleviated a bit. The adrenaline pumping through her body was making it look like the pack she was carrying look nearly weightless as she didn’t stop, just occasionally looking down at the GPS as she looked for a way around the canyon to the coordinates that were given to them. The wolf had given her a mission and she was determined to win him over.

Light managed to distract Temno…which was surprisingly easy to do. It seemed like Temno harbored quite a few negative feelings toward him, causing his fighting technique to become sloppy. Something Light didn’t fail to notice…however the white wolf was in no condition to keep up the fighting for much longer, having traveled for many days across barren landscape. The rain splashed on the ground all around the two wolves, it was cold but not too cold for snow as their heated breath showed in front of their mouths the two of them were wearing down as the battle carried the two of them near the side of a cliff with Light backing up. He tried to tackle Temno after a wild attack that coincided with a lightning flash.

The black wolf grunted and held firm as his paws slid back a bit on the muddy ground, wrapped his arms around Light’s torso and flung him up and over his head with a suplex after having dropped his knife. Thunder sounded muffled with the white wolf’s hearing ringing from landing on his head as he too misplaced his knife in the muddy water. Temno was exhausted and panting as he hunched over and placed his paws around the white wolf’s neck and laughed menacingly. “Oh…you put up a good fight brother, but it ends here,” he said with a grin as he pinned Light’s barely struggling body down with his and applied pressure to his windpipe.

“Hrnk…” Light gasped out while looking up with wild eyes into his brother’s. The rain fell around the black wolf’s head, splashing off the mud beside Light’s head. His vision started to blur as the oxygen was cut off to his brain. Is this it? he asked himself with a calm mind. Did I come this far...just to fail?

Light’s ears perked up in surprise at the sudden and quite familiar sound of an armor-piercing round impacting flesh. Temno took his paws off of his brother’s neck, allowing Light to gasp for air as his eyes opened. The black-furred wolf stumbled back and turned to the right as if he’d been struck on his shoulder. The two wolves couldn’t see the wound, since Temno instinctively covered it as soon as he’d been hit, but it was deeper than a simple graze.

“I-Impossible” Temno snarled as he stumbled a bit, pretty close to the edge of the cliff but out of Light’s attack range. He seemed shocked that something like this could have happened. He was sure he would have been able to smell anyone in the vicinity, even in the rain. Just then the sound of the gunshot that usually accompanied a bullet sounded.

The white wolf just lay there on the ground recovering as he rubbed his neck and his vision returned to normal. He looked around and saw Temno’s knife lying beside him. He wasn’t sure what just happened but he picked up the knife and attacked Temno with it. A sniper rifle hitting its target…in this rain!?

The black furred wolf raised a paw just in time to block the attack and knock his knife knife out of Light’s paw. But he was weakened by the bullet wound and couldn’t defend the attack from the other side as Light’s fist contacted squarly on the side of his muzzle and caused him to stumble back and lose his footing. “Whoa!” he made out as he released his wounded arm to use the flailing motion of his arms to right himself before he started to fall over the cliff.

Light’s eyes went wide with fear as he grabbed the tactical vest of the black-furred wolf as he instinctively saved his brother. Temno was angled back a bit, standing straight up, on the unstable and muddy cliff face while both wolves had their fur soaked with rain, it was dangerous enough but Light was panting in exhaustion and Temno’s face was full of fear as they both realized…all it would take is Light letting go of his hold on the vest to cause this monster of a brother to fall a hundred feet down the steep rocky mountainside to the ground below.

Light was snarling as he realized he was in control of the situation…and the one he was chasing was at his mercy. Temno lowered his ears in fear…something he hadn’t felt in a long time. He grinned just before opening his muzzle to speak. “Whisky Oscar Lima Foxtrot Zero Two Activate… Command Priority One” he said while gripping Light’s wrist to stabilize himself more.

The white furred wolf shook his head a bit and grinned when Temno’s expression turned to one of surprise. “Nice try, Bro,” he replied before letting go of the vest. Temno yelped like a puppy as he moved his arms quickly in wide circles to try to right himself. He jerked to a stop as Light grabbed his vest again. “Got ya,” he said with a grin with wild eyes.

HE’S TOYING WITH ME?! Temno screamed in his mind as he gulped. “L-Look Light…you don’t have to do this…it wasn’t me that killed Keith, i-“

“DON’T YOU SAY HIS NAME!” Light interrupted while growling and pulling Temno up until their noses were pressed together. The white wolf growled looked straight into Temno’s eyes. They were the angriest eyes the black wolf had ever seen, seemingly staring into his soul. Temno relaxed, he knew he was defeated. “I don’t get it…Why don’t you just finish me off?”

Light felt Temno relax but didn’t lower his guard. He knew his brother was sneaky. “Because…” he answered as he pulled his nose away from his. “…it’s not what he would want.” As the tension and fighting took a pause Light opened his eyes wide as he realized Temno was wounded…and it wasn’t a knife wound. “Maybe I was hoping I could change you…after spending all that time with my family…with our family…I th-“

“Wait…What?!” the black furred wolf exclaimed as he raised an eyebrow. “Our family was destroyed…wasn’t it?”

Light shook his head. “I met them Temno…and they truly miss us…we don’t have to fight. You can run away and rejoin our pack…abandon your organization,” he pleaded with his brother. The wolf wavered a bit. His arm was getting tired.

Temno was in shock. He’d never been shown forgiveness and compassion by anyone…and here was a wolf of which he’d help steal the life of his most prized human and endangered the lives of an animal shelter…showing him both. He chuckled softly and shook his head while smiling in amusement. “Sorry, bro…this is where we part ways. I can’t go back or run now that the organization knows I’ve failed them. They would find me. You will kill me here and end my pain. Thank you.” Before Light could reply, the black wolf unzipped his tactical vest and turned as he slipped out of it and landed on the rocky side of the steep downslope. He didn’t make a sound as he rolled down it, finally coming to rest on the bottom as Light fell to his knees at the summit from where his brother fell. “Temno…”

The rain was still falling heavily and Light wasn’t sure how to feel. He suddenly remembered the gunshot wound and realized how heavily it was raining. No freakin’ way…he thought to himself as he stood and turned while looking around. It was dark as the sun was setting and he had a feeling he was being watched. It was definitely a sniper’s bullet that had struck Temno. But why would they have targeted the black wolf instead of himself. If it was the organization the black wolf had worked for, they would have surely taken a shot at both of them.

Light picked up his brother’s knife and held it firmly in his paw, squeezing it as he looked over the side of the cliff and saw his brother’s body far below. Cursing under his breath, he picked up his knife out of the mud and held it in his paw after sheathing Temno’s. The rain… Light had a hunch…even if it was impossible. He walked in the general direction of where he would have to had assumed the bullet had come from judging on the layout of the landscape. He walked carefully and slowly taking advantage of cover. He heard rustling in a bush nearby suddenly and reached a paw in and pulled out whomever it was instinctually pinning them to the ground after a judo throw with his knife on their neck.

Cameron yelped out in pain and was panting in a panic as Light pulled the knife away from her neck. The wolf was panting and growling but his expression softened to one of annoyance. “lovely day, Cam,” he said as he sheathed the other knife into his belt after helping her to her footpaws. “I told you to go on without me.”

“Temno…is he…?” she started as she held the pack to Light. She’d repaired the straps with their camouflage duct tape since they’d been cut by Light’s knife. It would have been difficult for him to carry it otherwise.

“Yes,” he replied coldly as he tightened the straps on the pack and pushed down her shoulder, putting her in the bush with him as he peeked around a rock. “I’ll tell you later…right now I have to confirm something,” he said hurriedly.

Cameron noticed his tail wagging and Light smiling more than he ever had before despite the sad feeling she had just felt coming from him in regards to his brother.

The cheetah readied her rifle. “Ready to move, Sir.” Light nodded and the two of them stealthily moved in the direction the wolf expected they’d find the sniper that had saved his life. He sniffed the air and suddenly pushed Cameron away and was slung upside down as his left foot was pulled out from under him. He found himself hanging from a tree by a rope overhead and Cameron was looking around for a sign of an intruder.

The wolf and feline heard a laugh from nearby as footsteps on the ground were getting closer. “Good to see you haven’t changed, Light. Still getting into trouble as usual,” an unmistakable voice rang in Light’s ears.

Cameron raised her rifle and spun in the direction the voice was coming from and snarled. The ghillie-suited figure came into view and used a series of CQC maneuvers and the cheetah found herself on her back and without a rifle as soon as she realized what had happened. The figure ejected the magazine and the round from the chamber before pocketing the magazine and dropping the rifle on the ground. “I see you made a new friend too,” he continued and pulled back the hood of the ghillie suit. Keith appeared as if a ghost before Light. He opened his eyes in surprise and quickly unsheathed his knife and bent up to cut the rope in one swipe. The wolf used the momentum to land on his feet and raised the knife in a fighting stance. Keith raised an eyebrow in interest. “Don’t believe it’s me, hmm?” he said with a chuckle as he slipped out of his ghillie suit.

“Fenice Nera has nearly unlimited resources at its disposal…You might look like my comrade but I can’t trust anyone right now,” Light replied matter-of-factly as Cameron backed up from the two of them and waited for Light’s command.

The human before them certainly looked like Keith. He opened his eyes in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting Light to want to fight him.

Light suddenly realized how tired he was. His panted breath was labored and slow and his grip on the knife was shaky. His legs almost gave out on him as he growled in frustration. lovely day…

“I’m not going to fight you, Light,” Keith replied with eyes that had haunted Light all this time he had spent without his human…his friend…his comrade.

The wolf dropped the knife and fell to his knees and sobbed as he placed his paws on the ground. “Why…Why, Keith?” he said as he flinched at the human’s hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up.

“To protect you, Light. I couldn’t have you worrying about me while I left to take care of this organization…and to take them by surprise…to hit them where they least expected it,” Keith answered as he put the Ghillie suit back on. He had no choice but to stop when Light tackled him and embraced him and licked him all over the face. “Keith…I missed you so much!” Light yelped happily like a puppy while his tail wagged back and forth so much it kicked up mud. Keith shut his muzzle with a hand around it and held his index finger up to his lips.

Light sniffled and nodded took the magazine out of Keith’s vest pocket and went over to ready Cameron’s rifle. He put the magazine in and pulled back on the lever before handing her back the gun. “Cameron, this is Keith…my dad,” he introduced him with a smile. He was sure he’d seen tears form in Keith’s eyes. He’d never referred to him as dad before…but having spent so much time away from him made the wolf realize just how precious Keith was to him.

Keith extended a hand and grasped Cameron’s paw in his. She tensed up at the touch, not having much luck with humans before. But a second later she felt somehow comfortable with this human. Maybe it was his casual demeanor or the love she felt from him toward Light but she shook his hand with her paw. “Pleased to meet you,” they said one after another before Light handed the rifle to Cameron. “Alright, let’s go.”

“What’s in the packs?” Keith asked Light.

“C-4,” Light replied with a grin. “We’re going to blow this place to kingdom come.”

“I found the compounds location earlier but I wasn’t about to get too close. The strange thing was there didn’t appear to be anyone standing around outside,” Cameron replied as she was still looking at Keith.

Light turned to look at the human, raising an eyebrow with a puzzled expression. “How did you find this location and where were you this whole time, Keith?”

“Well you see -,” Keith started before a bullet impacted the tree that Light had been hanging from.

The three of them took cover and Keith prepared his rifle in the bush, Light looked through it with some binoculars while Cameron stayed against the rocky cliff on the right side of them. It was a surprisingly good spot where they were. It was a chokepoint about 400 yards out in front of them and well defendable from the rear as well provided they didn’t use mortars. “Cameron, watch our backs,” Light commanded as he looked down range of the direction the bullet came from. There wouldn’t be much luck of locating them using the reflected light from a sniper scope in this light. The wolf took a prone position and flipped a switch on the goggles to pick up heat sources.

The wolf couldn’t help but grin as he kept his tail still and held his breath. He heard Keith beside him become quiet, knowing things were serious. Cameron didn’t know much about sniping, but she figured it would be best to remain as still as possible and kept a sharp eye out for the rear opening to the narrow canyon.

“Light, switch to seconds on the directional indications,” Keith commanded in a whisper as he spotted an animal head taking covered and put his finger on the trigger. “S***” he whispered to himself, not taking his eye from looking down the scope of his rifle. “Light, do you remember when I said I don’t shoot animals?”

Light had also spotted the Chow Chow dog that took cover and knew that it had a firearm and he knew that they were an enemy. “It’s okay, Keith,” he whispered back. “Following your moral code isn’t worth dying over in this situation.”

“I know…” Keith replied before exhaling slowly and squeezing the trigger. The gunshot rang off the walls of the canyon and echoed loudly in Cameron’s ears. Crap that’s loud! she thought to herself as she focused ahead of her, watching their six.

The muzzle flash gave their position but the only individual that was looking at their position was the one that Keith had struck and killed with a single shot to the midsection. As Light saw it through the binoculars he whispered to Keith as if by instinct. “Confirmed hit.” The Chow Chow didn’t have a chance to dodge with the speed of the bullet and he didn’t have a chance to warn any others that might have been nearby. Light continued scanning the region ahead for signs of movement as they waited several moments with seemingly nothing happening.

Keith’s balaclava and ghillie suit hid his breath from view in the bush that Light, Cameron and he were holed up in as he scanned along with Light at the long, narrow region in front of them.

Light was wishing he had his old ghillie suit now. “A scout?” Light whispered without stopping his scanning of the region.

“He would have called in backup if he saw us…and he did shoot at us. Why aren’t they coming?”

Cameron happened to look up and saw a group of felines and canines of non-pet species aiming their guns down at them and raised her rifle and fired several rounds up, causing Keith and Light to spin around quickly and see what she was doing. After looking up they quickly got up and ran for cover from the enemies’ advantaged position. “Crap,” the man and wolf said as they moved while the enemies were taking cover. The cheetah gritted her teeth as she fired the gun in short bursts to provide cover for their group while conserving ammo. Light took a throwing knife from Keith’s vest and threw it at one of the felines that wasn’t hiding well enough above them. He heard a mewl of pain from his target as he growled. “They’re doing this on purpose. These guys aren’t well trained…” he said angrily to Keith.

The man nodded as they thought about their next move. They’re just going to throw cannon fodder at us until we lose the will to fight against these noobs. “I’m low on non-lethal methods of fighting at the moment,” the man whispered to Light.

Cameron had sprinted away from her hiding spot, using the distraction of the knife wound to one of their comrades. The group tended to him and kept their heads down for fear of getting shot at by the cheetah. She crouched behind the rock and tree grouping 50 yards away where Light and Keith were waiting. “C’mon, we can get out this way,” she pointed to a break in the rocks that was narrow enough for them to slip through. She poked her head out and looked at the grenades Keith had on him. “May I?” she asked as she took the grenade without waiting for a reply and pulled the pin before tossing it a few yards away. The rain was still falling but not nearly as heavily as before. “Cats in the rain…” she said to herself quietly as the grenade expelled an obscuring smoke cloud that started to get blown away from the wind.

Keith and Light had started toward the crack as soon as the grenade had given them sufficient cover, sidestepping through the narrow gap with Cameron bringing up the rear. Now we just needed to get closer to the compound undetected while avoiding swarms of trained/brainwashed feral animals and mercenary humans…piece of cake, she thought to herself with a wry tone.

If you're going to post something about the sudden reappearance of a sudden character, please post in spoiler hiding forum code. ^^;

KEITH IS BACK!!! OMMAGOSHAMAMA! I can't wait to read how did he survive his brush with the grim reaper! And of course, soon as they're together it's as if they never separated! GRRRREAT!Today's update almost made up for the humiliation against Spain, yesterday...

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